One of the few new games to be announced at last week's Macworld Expo San Francisco was the "4x" empire builder title Masterof Orion 3, coming via our friends at MacSoft. This is the thirdin the popular sci-fi strategy series, and the development team promises it willcompletely overhaul the genre. A couple of relevant articles were posted overthe weekend, including a developer diary at GameSpy and a new interviewfrom Cows Say MOO.

The GameSpy developer diary is actually the fourth in their MOO3 series, and thistime they discuss the all-important aspects of diplomacy. Here's a quick clipfrom the intro of the article:

One of the primary goals for diplomacy in Master of Orion III: The Fifth 'X', just as with the other elements of the game, was to provide an experience which would surpass that seen in so many 4X games (including the prior MOOs). Part of doing that required the construction of a wide variety of diplomatic options…everything from making trades to issuing threats and praise. These general options cover not only the more usual things you'd expect to see (trading for worlds, ships, or access to strategic minerals), but also some you might not (embargoes; military intelligence; and votes on various items in the Orion Senate, a sort of galactic UN in which all races do not necessarily get to participate).

In case you're confused on the 4x/5x points, most strategy games are 4x; eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate. The MOO3 team is adding an fifth X, incorporating the idea of eXperience into the game. Check out the rest of the diary for much more detail on how diplomacy will be vital to succeed in MOO3.

The interview at Cows Say MOO is with QuickSilver Software's Rantz Hoseley,self-appointed 'race meister' for MOO3. Hoseley is revamping the races in thegame both graphically and from a game-history standpoint. The Q&A covers this and a lot more so, have a look if you're interested.

Master of Orion 3 is still a ways off, though the team hopes to have it completedearly next year. MacSoft hasn't said whether the Mac port will be done in-houseor by a third party developer, but we'll let you know more as this game'sdevelopment proceeds.